Opening Convocation: Off to an Empowering Start

Sep 9, 2016

Guest Speaker Jim Clayton

On Tuesday, September 6th Alice Lloyd College students gathered in the Campbell Arts Center for the opening convocation of the fall 2016 semester. “No one is more qualified to be you, than you”, “Actions beat fear”, and “Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t let others tell you what you can’t do because can’t is another word for lazy” are just a few of the encouraging and empowering quotes students, faculty and staff left with on Tuesday as guest speaker Jim Clayton opened the college’s convocation series.

Prior to the guest speaker’s speech, Alice Lloyd College President Joe Stepp, opened the event with campus updates for the students. These updates included projects that were completed over the summer break such as three roofing projects, remodeling bathrooms and floors in the June Buchanan School, and the construction of a new June Buchanan Child Development Center. The JBS Child Development Center has allowed ALC and JBS to increase the number of children who can attend the Child Development Center. The larger facility is expanding the Child Development Center’s enrollment and has created a waiting list for families enrolling their children.

Future projects the college is implementing include an outdoor student recreational area between Carrick Dormitory and the Campus Police Department, a pedway stretching from campus to the parking areas on the lower end of campus, and various upgrades to campus technology. The largest project in the college’s future is a $15 million Campus Center. This new center will include a game room, a state of the art fitness center, yoga room, high school regulation gym, and a college regulation gym with 1,500 persons seating capacity and a built in walking track.

President Stepp concluded his presentation by sharing his hopes for the student body: hope that the students will not only have the best facilities but also that the students will graduate college with the least amount of debt and excel in their chosen endeavors after graduation, whether professional degrees or entering the workforce.

Following President Stepp was guest speaker Jim Clayton, a retired high school educator and founder and CEO of Sports City U Basketball Academy, as well as a certified John Maxwell Leadership Coach and Trainer. Jim Clayton has used his 35 years of experience to motivate his audiences. The goal of Jim’s presentation was to encourage the audience to determine their purpose in life, which he described as “Who you are, where you’re going, and how you’re going to get there.” Throughout his speech, Jim outlined three obstacles that everyone encounters when trying to find their purpose in life and left the members of the audience feeling empowered. He ended his motivational speech with a poem from The Edge, “Man in the Glass”, by Dale Wimbrow to remind everyone that as the new semester begins it is vital to successfully pursue one’s purpose that they never cheat themselves. Instead, when you have fought all obstacles and found what gets you excited every time you wake up, you will know you have truly found your purpose in life.